Bike Day Saturday

Mayor-President Kip Holden and his wife Lois will celebrate the Mayor’s Annual Family Bike Day on Saturday by leading a bike ride along the recently completed segment of the Mississippi River Levee Bike Path, according to a news release.

This year’s ride will begin at BREC’s Farr Park and take bicyclists along the levee bike path from Farr Park to Skip Bertman Drive at LSU and back.

Family Bike Day is held each year as part of the Holden’s Healthy BR Initiative, and is open to bicyclists of all ages free of charge.

Participants should plan on arriving about 9 a.m. at Farr Park on River Road just south of Brightside Lane. The annual “Blessing of the Bikes” will be held at the Farr Park Bike Path Pavilion at 9:30 a.m., followed by the official dedication for the recently completed section of the Mississippi River Bike Path at 9:40 a.m.

Holden and his wife will then lead cyclists for a ride along the new 9,500-foot-long section of the Levee Bike Path between Farr Park and Skip Bertman Drive. The project, which was funded in part by a $980,000 federal appropriation arranged by U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, extended the total length of the levee-top bike path to a little more than five miles between downtown Baton Rouge and Farr Park.

The Baton Rouge Police Department, EMS, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Healthy BR partners and local bicycle advocates will be on hand at Farr Park before and after the ride to provide free health screenings and safety information. Bicyclists, pedestrians and drivers from throughout the Baton Rouge region are invited to participate in the screenings and take advantage of the safety tips.

The event will also celebrate Baton Rouge‘s status as the first Louisiana city to be officially recognized as a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.